on their third full length 'alaska', btbam once more pushed the boundaries of their own sound. for the first time the band played with the still current line-up. three new members, dan on bass, blake on drums and dusty on guitar; were then new in the collective. i can't say how much of their own ideas each of the new members could bring into the writing of the songs but 'alaska' feels really like a coherent piece.
sure, 'the silent circus' was and is a great record but to me, 'alaska' was the birth of an elaborate monster let loose onto the world. maybe for some that goes too far but i cannot do otherwise but liken them to almighty queen. not really musically but just like queen was known for their sheer endless stylistic variety with the basis being rock music, btbam impress with the very same quality only with the basis being metal.
for the title song they released a video. check it out here. i read somewhere that it's about trying to stay awake while driving in the night. it might also deal with insomnia as parts of the lyrics and, above all, the video itself indicates. the whole album however, is non-conceptional lyrically. a far as i understand it, that is. alot of the lyrics though seem to deal with how consumption and fancy media lies of the western world are supposed to keep people in line and distract from the fact that corrupt governments are selling our very souls for profit.
i grabbed this nice version of 'alaska' directly from the label, together with 'the silent circus' and another btbam record. it's from the third pressing of this album, i believe. 165 copies pressed on this nice pink marble vinyl. yeah, lovely vinyl colour. grey marble vinyl and a new pressing on red available at the label's shop. victory records. 2005.
